Lights Out (Indigo) Read online

  “Uncle Joe, Reye and I been working on my shooting. Maybe I can play forward this year for the team,” he said.

  “Hey, Joe. He’s getting to be quite the soccer player,” she said, ruffling Shane’s hair, before looking at Joe again and smiling.

  “He and I have been working at it, too, when we have time. Less so since this new promotion. Sorry I ran late,” Joe said, smiling his apology.

  “No worries. Did any of those names I gave you work as a back-up plan?” she asked.

  “Nope. Called all of them. Most wanted more hours. I just need someone to pick up Shane from school, take him home, make sure he gets his homework, and eats dinner. I’ll keep looking,” he said.

  “Let me know if I can help,” she said, her phone ringing. “Let me catch this,” she said, giving Joe a smile. “Bye, you guys. See you tomorrow, Shane.”

  “You ready?” Joe asked, looking down at his nephew.

  “Been ready, stay ready, born ready,” he said, smiling at his uncle. “I’m hungry,” he added, walking down the sidewalk to the car.

  “What do you want for dinner?”

  “Tacos,” he said.

  “Sounds good, buddy. We’ll pick up something on the way home,” Joe said, getting in the car, putting on his seat belt, and waiting for Shane to do the same.

  “What did you guys do today?” he asked, pulling away from the curb.

  Joe listened as Shane talked, pulling into the drive thru line at the Taco Café, home to their favorite soft tacos, marveling at how far Shane had come since his mother’s disappearance almost two years ago.

  Joe had sought and gotten temporary custody of Shane, enrolled him in a small private school, and purchased a home for the two of them in the vicinity of the school. He hoped Shane felt loved and safe. He did his best. He’d been giving thought to making the custody arrangement permanent, but that could create a whole new set of problems, maybe even bring Meghan, Joe’s sister and Shane’s mother, back into their lives. He’d recently hired a family lawyer after getting the referral from Stephen, Reye’s husband. Joe had met with him once, but hadn’t gone back.

  Shane had settled in well, better than he’d hoped. In the last two years Shane had grown into this confident and carefree child. Joe was very pleased with the transformation; he knew firsthand the havoc that came from the dissolution of one’s family. He would do everything within his power to make sure Shane would have a better life.

  * * *

  First week in June

  Two weeks later Joe stood in line at Lights Out Coffee; he was a regular now, waiting his turn at her mouth. He inwardly smiled at how odd and X-rated that sounded to him, but he liked her sharp wit and sexy banter. And he liked the coffee here, too. He knew she worked today. He had figured out her schedule, and made a point to stop by when she was on duty, either picking up his coffee to go or ordering a bagel to eat while he worked.

  “Another large coffee, black, for Middleweight,” she called out to Estelle, her smile and eyes teasing.

  “Bagel this morning?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said, smiling.

  She leaned in close and whispered loudly into his ear for the early morning crowd. “Doesn’t the missionary position get a little old?” she asked. He slowly turned his head to face her, surprised that she could surprise him still.

  She pulled back. “Bagel always on the bottom, cream cheese always on top. Every day, the same thing,” she said, loudly, for the regulars. Most knew of the bantering between her and Joe. She teased everyone, but with him, it seemed different, like she was serious about the sexual part. He was beginning to hope so, anyway.

  He grinned. “I don’t want to scare you away with too many changes,” he said. “For some I have to keep it easy. I’m not sure you’re up for all that I bring.”

  One of the regulars behind him laughed, a few others snickered, and one woman fanned her face.

  “You’re all that, huh?” she said, captivated.

  “And then some,” he said, loudly, causing the male regulars behind him to hoot, his eyes still locked with hers.

  “Whew,” she said, laughing now as she set his coffee on the counter, fanning herself too. She and the woman in line smiled at each other in mutual understanding. He laughed at that and so did she. Was he serious? she asked herself, taking his money from him.

  “You handle yourself very well,” she said.

  “A better question is, can you?” he asked, invitation in his eyes.

  Was he for real, she wondered again, and what if he was?

  “I’m sure I can,” she said, handing over his cup of coffee. “I’ll bring your bagel over to you.”

  “Thanks,” he said, handing her cash. “You can put the change in the jar,” he added before turning away. She watched him walk to his customary chair in the booth near the front window and pull out his laptop.

  * * *

  “What kind of work do you do?” she said, standing next to his booth five minutes later. He hadn’t looked up at her approach, his head bent over his laptop.

  “IT, computer stuff. I’m in the division that supports most of the systems for Ryder Corp.”

  “Interesting,” she said, but her voice indicated otherwise. He chuckled.

  “Joe?”

  Piper and Joe looked up, looking for the person who’d called his name, and found a very attractive woman walking toward Joe’s booth. She wore a cute, flirty dress in a nice muted red, matching shoes, and her red hair flowed down her back. She looked polished and professional.

  “Sondra,” he said, smiling at the woman while Piper watched the woman’s face brighten as she exchanged greetings with Joe. Piper noted the familiarity and recognition of what was between them in the woman’s eyes.

  “You working?” Sondra asked, eyes only for Joe.

  “A little.”

  “Let me get my coffee,” she said, glancing at Piper with expectation in her gaze.

  “You have to go to the counter to order,” Piper said, sugary sweetness personified, her head tilted to the side, fake smile in place. What was up with her? She didn’t do “this,” whatever “this” was—marking territory that she didn’t own. She turned to find Joe’s eyes on her, laughter in them, like he knew what her problem was.

  “Sondra, this is…” he said, continuing to look at Piper.

  “Piper,” she offered.

  “Hi,” Sondra said, but clearly wasn’t interested. She quickly dismissed Piper and moved back to Joe.

  Pout those lips, girlfriend, Piper thought uncharitably.

  “I’ll just be a second,” Sondra said to Joe before turning away, her cute, perky butt swinging from side to side as she made her way to the counter.

  Piper watched her leave, irritated that she had been made to feel like the help; which she was, but still. She shook her head and turned to find Joe’s eyes on her.

  “Piper, huh.”

  “Joe, huh.”

  “Joe Sandborne,” he said, sitting back in his booth now, watching her. She had no idea what he was thinking.

  “Piper Knight,” she replied.

  “Interesting name.”

  She shrugged. “I yam what I yam,” she said, and he chuckled. “Duty calls,” she added, reluctant to leave his side. She liked their sparring, and was disconcerted by Sondra’s arrival. Why was that, she’d like to know.

  “I’ll see you later,” she said.

  “Sure,” he said, watching her as she turned and headed back to her counter. She was interested, and he suspected it had been underneath her bantering from the beginning. She teased others, but with him it had felt like more; lucky her, he was with her on that.

  Was she up for what he wanted? He hoped so. These last few weeks had felt like foreplay to him, and he was ready to move past this stage. He was a little frightened at the chemistry between them, but ready for the heat he suspected they could generate.

  Shane had put a damper on his sex life. He tried his best not to mix women
with his nephew, and he didn’t do long term. He managed to maintain minimal, simple relationships, tending to take one woman on at time and she, he decided, was next on his list.

  Chapter 2

  First week of June

  “Afternoon, Renee,” Mr. Harper said a couple of days later as he entered Lights Out late in the afternoon. Like clockwork, regular as the sun. Old Mr. Harper, 82, stopped by at 2 p.m. every day for a cup of black coffee and a slice of lemon cake. Always, forever, amen.

  He was one of her favorite customers, even though he refused to call her Piper.

  “Hello, Mr. Harper,” she said, giving him a smile. “Having your usual?”

  “Yes, young lady,” he said, watching her pour his customary coffee into a cup before placing it in a saucer for him. She added a piece of lemon cake on a cake plate and a napkin and fork, and followed him to his table. His hands weren’t as strong as they used to be.

  Piper knew he left for his dessert and coffee during his wife’s nap, usually after they finished lunch. She walked over and grabbed today’s paper and brought it over to him. “Enjoy,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Mr. Harper said, giving her another smile.

  “Let me know if you need anything,” she added, turning and walking back to the counter, where a customer waited. The door opened again and she was surprised to see Joe enter. He was usually part of her morning group. But him here now would work, too. She was always up for seeing him, her blood warming at the sight of him. She turned her attention to helping her next customer.

  * * *

  Joe headed toward the counter, his eyes following Piper’s path as she walked toward the counter and started in with the customer in front of him. Today was the day, time to move this whatever he was feeling towards her along. It had been on his mind, simmering like you wouldn’t believe.

  Piper watched him as he took his place in line. He’d always teased and flirted with her, but for the last couple of weeks it seemed like he was hinting at more. He had moved up the teasing until she wasn’t sure she could keep up with him. Could she keep up with the other, too? Not that he’d asked, but if he did…no way did she think he was relationship- or marriage-minded. It was probably more like he’d wanted to see if her wordplay matched some other kind of play.

  She usually blew off most requests for more, but Middleweight was a horse of a different color. She didn’t lie to herself; she was attracted to him. Who wouldn’t be? He’d been good, his comebacks sharp—excellent even. He gave as good as he got, and the possibilities for that trait were endless.

  “Middleweight,” she said, when he stepped up to the counter. “Don’t usually see you in the afternoon.”

  “I was hungry for something more,” he said.

  “Okay,” she replied. They were no longer only discussing food. “What would you like?”

  “For now I’ll take a sandwich and an iced coffee,” he said, reaching into his pocket for his wallet and pulling out his card. “Would you bring it over to me? I’d like to talk to you about something,” he added.

  “Sure,” she said, taking his card and running it through the register before handing it back.

  “Thanks,” he said, walking away, dressed casually today in jeans and a snug t-shirt. She sighed.

  She walked over to him five minutes later. He was reading over his BlackBerry. The paper he had picked up sat on the table beside him.

  “Easy afternoon?” she asked, eyeing the newspaper, noting the absence of his laptop.

  “Not too bad,” he said, not elaborating further, not that it was any of her business. She continued to hold his eyes, watching as they changed over to smoky. He was so out of her league. What was she doing here, playing with this?

  “So, Piper, are you all talk? Or is there something behind all that teasing you pass out?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Don’t know, could go either way.”

  “There’s enough.”

  “Enough, huh,” he said, taking a sip from his coffee, sitting back in his seat, all relaxed.

  “What do you do when you’re not working here?” he asked.

  “A little bit of this and that,” she said, her eyes locked on his. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I think it’s time for you and I to put all of our energy to a different use, to find out if we’re all talk.”

  Translated that meant if she were all talk.

  “You do, huh,” she said.

  “Yes—I do,” he said, reaching for her hand.

  She nodded, running her eyes from head to toe and back again while he watched her, no disguise for the lust and desire reflected in those grey peepers of his, leaving little doubt as to what energy he wanted to make use of.

  “Like what you see?” he asked.

  “It’ll do in a pinch,” she said and he chuckled.

  “Hook up with me then,” he said preferring the direct approach, choosing clarity in his requests, straightforward, less room for misunderstandings later.

  “Hook up, huh? That’s all you want?”

  “All I want? That’s one way to look at it,” he said. His other hand had joined its mate, holding fast to hers. Strong hands, long lean fingers. She swallowed.

  “Maybe. I’ll think about it,” she said, looking around, a little disappointed. What had she expected? A thoughtful, committed, more substantive kind of guy? She chuckled at the lunacy of those thoughts. She’d apparently lost her brain there for a second.

  “I promise it will be worth our time, you won’t regret it,” he said, as if he’d read her mind.

  She smiled. “We’ll see. I’d better let you get back to work,” she said, giving him a wink.

  * * *

  Second weekend in June

  Late Saturday afternoon Piper opened the back door of the shop for the caterers to enter. She could smell the food and recognized the scent of some of her favorites. Dirty rice, a big black kettle of gumbo, home-baked bread, and it had her mouth watering and her stomach growling something fierce.

  “That smells good,” she said, trailing along behind the owner and chef, Ms. Nadine.

  “It is good,” Ms. Nadine replied matter-of-factly. She was always short and to the point, as if words didn’t come cheap in this day and age. Piper followed her into the kitchen and watched as she set her pots down on the work table before turning around to head back out to their van.

  “Do you need me?” Piper asked.

  “Nope, just need you out of the way.”

  She was used to Mrs. Nadine’s gruff, no-nonsense manner and was past being offended by it. Ms. Nadine was the owner of Dirty Rice Catering Company and maker of the best Cajun food this far north of Lake Charles. Piper had liked her from the start and loved her food, so much so that she was willing to do just about anything for it. If staying out of the way was required, she could easily do that.

  She left the kitchen and traipsed over to the stage located near the middle of the shop. She’d removed the tables and chairs earlier, her shop now in the final phase of its transformation from coffee bar to juke joint. Austin was known for its live music, and she was a big lover of it.

  The second Saturday of every month was reserved for zydeco night at Lights Out Coffee. She started the second month she’d opened at her first shop, found a local band that played zydeco music, hung multi-colored lights from the ceilings, and tried to recreate one of the favorite events from her childhood.

  She’d grown up listening to zydeco on the radio. It was a combination of rub board, accordion, fiddle, guitars, and drums played by great old timers like Clifton Chenier and newer artists like Cedric Watson and Corey Ledet.

  She’d followed her grandparents around to many a church bazaar and hole in the wall, where children and families were always welcome. The men drank beer, talked, and danced with their wives and kids to the sounds of zydeco blasting from the speakers.

  Food, always plentiful, had been cooked lovingly by mothers and friends. The large
community potluck had always been a competition for the best dirty rice, étouffée, gumbo, and homemade bread.

  All with full stomachs, she, her friends, and her cousins would dance around the floor, partnered up with any available boy, or each other if boys were scarce. They’d imitated their parents, moving to the music, steps quick and eager or slow and easy. Those nights were the best of her childhood.

  Tonight would be the first time zydeco night would be held at her second location. Unlike her first shop, she’d built this one with size in mind, with a dance floor and a stage. She’d wanted community access, for parties, meetings or small events, poetry readings on Sunday nights—a place for the locals to feel at home.

  There was an area available for kids to watch DVDs or play video games on the plasma TV that hung on the wall, as well as crayons and small toys for the kids to play with.

  The crowd, a mixture of the old, young adults, and families, had been growing each month, and she hoped the change to this venue would increase its size. She’d been pleased so far with its popularity.

  * * *

  Joe was headed over to Lights Out, his blood humming. He was excited. He had seen the flyer advertising tonight’s event on the counter a week ago and made plans accordingly. He hoped she’d be working tonight, or, better yet, that she wasn’t and was free to leave with him.

  He’d found a sitter for Shane, but he was running late because good help was hard to find these days and the sitter had been late to arrive. If he played his cards right, the night would end with them together, and that would be perfect.

  He entered the door, surprised by the size of the crowd and the transformation of the room. The coffee shop had been transformed into a dance hall. Bright colored lights hung from the ceilings and people sat around the tables, talking or eating. Some were dancing on the dance floor that had been added just below the stage.

  He spotted her at the counter and started in her direction. He could use a beer.